Hi there! My best bet is your a photographer and you’re looking for new tips and tricks to spice up your personal portraits! Don’t be a ghost behind you work, own your craft, and be bold enough to stand next to it. Prove to the world you can make meaningful photographs that share who you are and don’t only capture other people’s moments and memories.

After not having shown my face for a long time behind the camera I thought I’d take it upon myself to portray who I am. So I started photographing myself and learning to push my boundaries! I added in new tools I have never branched out to learn before. Here’s where the magic happened began.

Here are a few key points to make this successful!

• Plan out what you are going to shoot

  • This step needs to be taken seriously! When you have an idea of what you are going to shoot, what vibe you want it to look like, and a emotion you want to represent your creative direction will start to spark. Keep pushing your creativity during your sessions. If you let frustration take over it will consume your creativity and you might not reach that awesome photo that you had it in you to take!

• Shake off any awkwardness and put on your armor of self-confidence

  • Let’s admit it, you’re fine as hell and if you’re alone taking these photos then no one is going to judge you. OWN your beauty, looks, and insecurities. Let any self doubt wash away and find the angles you like to be photographed best in. Get weird, laugh, run around, use your surroundings to add some spice to the photograph!

• Have patience!

  • This is going to take some practice, and tons and tons and tons and tons of times running back and forth back to your camera to make sure it’s focused or angled the right way. The process of creativity may take you hours to start getting in your groove. Turn off your notifications and turn some inspirational music on and let your mind role. This is where you are going to find the best ideas.

                                                                       

Tools I used:

I used my 6D Canon Camera, and attached it to my tripod. ( I couldn’t use my 5D Mkiii, because it doesn’t have the capabilities of sharing wifi). Then I downloaded the EOS Canon Remote shooting app, and used my phone to see what angles my body was in. It’s like looking at yourself in a mirror.

You can purchase that camera here:

Then I adjusted myself in the phone, clicked the button, hid the phone, and held the pose I predetermined that I liked by finding what worked for me and my lengthly legs. Anyone here reading this have that problem too?

Once you have mastered that – Let’s take things a step further !

• Use objects around you to make the image pop by shooting through something or adding a layer of texture.

For example in the picture below I used a old bourbon glass I bought for my husband from Goodwill. It was old and classic and had tons of bumps and ridges on it so I held it to the end of the camera to make the lens shoot through the glass on the side. This also helped brighten up the image as I was up against a black background with a black shirt. It pushes the image to make it pop, and makes it a bit more punchy!

Here I used a pizza cutter to reflect the light and cut the image. I wore white on white with light wash jeans, because I wanted to portray new beginnings. So I wore an oversized old white shirt, fresh wet hair, and light background!

The more practice you have the better it will become! It is quite harder taking a self portrait of two people in the image ( you and your friend or you and your lover), so I would practice with yourself first before you add someone else into the photos.

I’d love to see what you created or if this helped you become more advanced in creating your advanced selfies!